Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome's Baker electric car back in running condition thanks to donation

Chris Spano, owner of Interstate Batteries of Kingston, which donated batteries for a 1911 Baker electric car at Cole Palen's Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum in Red Hook, stands next to the vintage car.

RED HOOK, N.Y. -- After sitting idle in the museum of the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome for more than a decade, a rare antique car --and one that is surprisingly environmentally friendly for its age -- will be road worthy once again.

And Interstate Batteries of 192 Greenkill Ave., Kingston, is making sure the 1911 Baker electric car has the juice it needs to rev up its engine.

The vehicle was acquired by Cole Palen, the founder of the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, in the late 1960s or early 1970s and was for many years used as part of the air shows at the Aerodrome, said Mike DiGiacomio, president of Cole Palen's Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum.

But in the late 1990s the batteries that run the 102-year-old vehicle died and the car -- one of only a handful still in existence -- was relegated to storage in the Aerodrome's museum.

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In October, Sean Crimmins, a museum volunteer and mechanic, moved the vehicle out of storage and began evaluating it for restoration.

A $1,000 microgrant from the New York City chapter of the Awesome Foundation helped the museum make some needed repairs to the switch assembly and a new rear tire.

Then last month Chris Spano, the owner of Interstate Batteries, answered the call for the donation of batteries to power the all-electric vehicle.

"I had gotten an email that they needed some batteries for a 1911 car and I thought it was interesting," said Spano. "They were looking for a donation and I thought that this was like a rare opportunity to do something like that."

Spano agreed to donate the 10 six-volt "golf cart-type" batteries that will be used to run the car and got "an up-close look" at the Baker to boot.

"It's pretty neat," said Spano. "From what they were telling me, it was made for a woman to go shopping in back in the day."

"It was a really nice donation," said DiGiacomio. "It used to be a part of the show, but the batteries stopped working. The new ones will allow us to put it back in the show again."

DiGiacomio said the 1911 Baker will join the Aerodrome's 1913 Model T and other vintage vehicles as part of the pre-air show festivities when the Aerodrome opens in May.

"Before our show, we allow the public to get dressed up in outfits from the 1900s through the 1930s and they'll go for a car ride down the flight line," said DiGiacomio. "It's a neat way to get the public involved."

According to its website, the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, located on Norton Road, Red Hook, is slated to open on May 18.